Greece welcomes EU decision on Lebanon crisis

Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis welcomed on Saturday the latest EU decision to send a contingent of 6,500-7,000 peacekeepers to the UN-led expanded international peacekeeping force to be deployed in Lebanon.

After briefing Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis on her four-day Mideast tour earlier this week, she told reporters that such a force would give a sense of security to both the Israeli and Lebanese people.

Greece has decided to contribute two Navy vessels and a specialist commando divers unit to the expanded international peacekeeping force in Lebanon earlier this week.

However, Bakoyannis ruled out the prospect of increasing the Greek participation in the international force.

She reiterated that the Greek naval contribution to the force, together with that of Germany and Denmark, would serve as the lever to lift the naval isolation of Lebanon, saying that this had been requested by Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.

The government also said it will consider sending other units in the future but under the strict condition that the situation in the region has normalized. For the time being, it completely rules out sending Greek land forces to the area.

A conference of the countries that will contribute forces to the expanded UNIFIL is scheduled to take place at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday.

Source: Xinhua